


Nalila

by AngelPenndragon



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fem!Harry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-26
Updated: 2015-06-14
Packaged: 2018-03-25 23:04:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3828262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelPenndragon/pseuds/AngelPenndragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Harry is a girl. Is not so human. Is actually from Arda. Oh and has an epic adventure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The inspiration for this comes from every fic I've read that has connected these two fandoms. Updates may be sporadic. Any mistakes found are mine.

** Chapter One **

****

****

**It was finally over.** Lord Voldemort was dead. _But the cost was too high,_ Nalila thought as she stood over his broken looking body. She closed her emerald eyes as her waist length, crimson coloured hair swayed gently in the breeze.

 Almost everyone she loved was gone. Her parents, Cedric, Sirius, Remus, Hermione, the Weasley's... she shook her head to clear it before opening her eyes and turning away from the body at her feet. Neville and Luna stood there with small smiles of relief that she was alive on their faces.

 Lila moved toward them, collapsing in Neville's arms as tears started flowing down her cheeks.

 "Everything will be alright Lila," Luna whispered, as she hugged the shorter girl from behind, a knowing look in her eyes which were focused for once.

 The-Girl-Who-Lived just cried into Neville's shoulder until she passed out from the stress and exhaustion.

 The boy shared a look with Luna before picking up the other girl bridal style and carrying her to the headmaster's office.

 When they got there, Luna noticed that there was a portrait of Professor Snape on the wall with all the past Headmasters, she nodded in approval.

 "Good evening Professor." the only female that was awake directed at Snape.

 "Miss Lovegood. How is miss Potter?" he asked quietly, a glint in his eyes that spoke of pride in Lily's daughter.

 Luna shot a fond look toward her friend before turning back to the man. "Everything will be fine in time sir."

 He nodded, staying silent for a moment. "When she is able, there is a letter from her mother on the desk. I had an elf retrieve it from my vault. Lily asked me to give it to her when everything was over and she herself could not tell her daughter the truth."

 "Severus, I don't think that is at all appropriate right now." the portrait of Albus Dumbledore protested.

 Both Luna and Neville's eyes snapped up to look at him.

 "Professor Dumbledore." the girl greeted frostily. "This is the most appropriate time. Things beyond all of our control are happening to start to bring balance once more."

 The old man looked a little shaken at her words, knowing that his former student was more of a Seer than Trelawney. 

 "What?" Neville sounded confused.

 She smiles a little mysteriously as she went to him. "She'll be going home soon."

 Recognition lit his brown orbs, "You mean she's..."

 "Yes."

 "I really must protest." But no one was listening to the old professor anymore.

 They both looked down when their friend let out a low whimper of distress. The blonde girl softly spoke in a language her companion didn't recognize, but knew it was Nalila's native tongue. The girl on the couch seemed to relax at Luna's words, then emerald began to peek out from behind slowly opening eyelids.

 "Luna, Neville, what?"

 Neville knelt on the floor in front of her, taking her smaller hand in his. Luna picked up the letter that Snape told them about, going to kneel beside him.

 "Professor Snape I think would like a chance to speak with you before you read a letter he had been holding on to for you, from your mother." Luna explained as she handed the aged envelope over the confused red haired girl.

 Lila traced her fingertips over the delicate looking letters on the envelope that made up her name. Luna motioned to Neville to leave, silently casting a silencing charm at Dumbledore's Portrait so that Lila and Professor Snape could talk without interruptions.

 "I went to visit your mother just after your parents had gone into hiding." Snape stated after a few moments of silence.

 Nalila's gaze wandered up to look at her once hated professor. She was very confused about what was going on, and slightly amused when she noticed the old goat trying and failing to speak.

 "I'm guessing you at least have a vague idea of what this is." she stated holding up the letter.

 The dark man nodded solemnly. "Read it first, all of it, then we shall talk."

 It was Lila's turn to nod as she slipped a slim finger under the wax seal on the envelope.

 

 

_'My dearest Nalila,_

_If you're reading this letter then James and I didn't survive the war, and Severus found a way to get this to you. I am so very sorry for that my darling baby girl._

_There are things that happened when you were a baby that you need to know, but first know that James and I loved you with everything that we were, and never feel guilty for our deaths. We would have done everything and anything to make sure that you lived._

_The first thing that you should know is that James and I aren't your biological parents. We never found out who they were, and even though you weren't ours by blood, we still thought of you as our precious baby girl._

_The second thing I must tell you is that through Severus' diligence in his spying we found out that you are not originally from this world. I know it will be a bit unbelievable, but if you are able to, talk with Severus. It was Severus whom discovered that it was Dumbledore who brought you from your home through some sort of ritual._

_I was horrified that he would do something so awful to someone's family._

_Severus tried to help us find a way to send you home, to send you back to where you belonged, since it was quite obvious, even as a baby, that you were not like other babies._

_Severus discreetly and subtly questioned the old man to see if he knew how to send you back. The stupid old goat never bothered to research a way to send you home after he wanted you here for was done. So we decided we'd look ourselves, not telling anyone, but Severus what we were doing, not even our closest friends Sirius and Remus._

_I had been working in the Department of Mysteries before we went into hiding, and discovered the runes around the Archway, or the Veil of Death as the Ministry likes to call it. From what I could manage to translate, the runes tell that going through the Archway does not automatically lead to death, there is a sort of Judgement first._

_Severus had urged us to take you through it, and James and I agreed with him. We were going to take you through it, hoping it would at least take you where you belonged, even if it had killed us. Unfortunately we had to go into hiding before that happened, and since you're reading this we, nor Sev ever got the chance to try._

_One last thing my sweet girl, the old goat also revealed to Sev that you weren't a child of man. A first we didn't know what he meant since you looked human. As our research continued we found passages in extremely old and rare books that described things so similar to how you acted and reacted to the world around you that we finally realized what he was talking about. You my darling are part of the noble race of Dwarrows, otherwise known as a dwarf. James and I could not find any more information than that. I don't know if Sev did though, it has been quite a while since we last saw him._

_We're not certain if your appearance will change if you were to ever make it back to your home, and we may never know what being in our world so long will do to you, like will you keep the magic that our world saw fit to bestow upon you._

_I am so sorry for everything my darling, just remember that James and I love you with all our hearts. That will never change._

_Your mother always,_

_Lily Potter'_

Nalila was shocked by all the information in the letter from her mother, and no matter what that's what Lily Potter was, her mother. The fact that Professor Snape had tried to help in any way he could made her feel all the more grateful to him for everything he'd ever done to help her. She was also even more angry at the old man for what he'd put her through.

 There was a light sound which made her look up. Severus was staring down at her with a fond expression. "Any questions?" he asked her.

 "Only one. It's obvious that my mother would never lie to me about something like this." the red-head started. "Did you find any more information on Dwarrows or the Archway?"

 The portrait of her professor and mentor sighed softly, "I looked everywhere I could think of. Even the library at Grimmauld. There was nothing, and I didn't know enough about the runes, or trust anyone else with your mother's notes on them."

 "And so the last Piece has been put in place. And it's time for the lost Childe to return home." Luna stated.

 "You knew?"

 "I suspected, there was always something about you that just didn't seem right. Not in a bad way though." Luna told her with a lopsided smile.

 The red-head nodded in acceptance, knowing that if Luna had know anything 100% that she would have said something. "Then you know what I must do now."

 "Yes. Neville and I will help you. Everything in the wizarding world is chaos right now, the best time to take action don't you think?"

 Lila's smile at her blonde friends words could have shamed the sun for how bright it was.

 

 

**XXXXX**

 

 

Three days later the three friends were silently making their way through the Ministry, avoiding as many people as possible along their way to the Department of Mysteries. They knew that if they were spotted someone would try to stop them. The closer they got the Veil the more alive Nalila seemed to become. It took fifteen minutes to find the right door to chamber with the archway. The red-headed girl was almost vibrating in place now. Both Luna and Neville were slightly amused by their friend's state, Luna more so since she knew that it was because Lila's soul was calling out to the Veil to take her home.

 The red haired girl turned to her friends, taking one of their hands in each of hers. "Thank you for everything. Take care of each other, and make sure my letter gets to the goblins, okay?"

 Luna nodded before both her and Neville hugged the shorter girl one last time. Nalila took a deep breath, turned toward the archway and walked through.

 The blonde girl sighed, feeling a little relieved that things had gone so well. Turning to her companion she smiled. "Balance has been restored."

 Neville glanced at her, taking her hand. "We should go before someone comes, take Lila's letter to the goblins."

 "Yes, of course."

 With that the two turned away and left the chamber.

 

 

**XXXXX**

Nalila woke with a gasp and knowledge that she hadn't had before. Names and faces of people from long ago spun in her scrambled mind as she laid there trying to catch her breath. Trying to sort out all the new information in her head. All the traditions and practices of her race making a dizzying path in her brain.

 A while later, when the spinning stopped, the girl finally sat up, taking note of the fact that her clothes were different, more traditional Dwarrow materials and clothing, but everything else she could see seemed to be the same. Remembering some of the last lines in her mother's letter Lila decided to try conjuring a mirror to see if her face had changed at all.

 Flicking her wand into her hand from the holster on her arm, she could feel the magic thrumming through her a lot easier than she ever had before. Since she didn't know a spell to conjure something she figured she just try imagining what she wanted. So with the image of a mirror firmly in the front of her mind the red head flicked her wand and was only a little surprised when what she had wanted appeared, hovering in front of her.

 Carefully she put her wand away and grasped the glass in both of her small hands. Slowly she lifted the mirror higher to get a look at her face, almost crying in relief when she saw it hadn't really changed. Same bright emerald eyes, untameable, curly crimson coloured hair, the same high cheekbones, and petite, slender nose, and no sign of any facial hair. She was infinitely grateful for that.

 Carefully putting the mirror away, Lila finally gazed at her surroundings. _Mirkwood,_ something in her mind whispered to her. It was dark, and smelled of illness and death. There was something evil here and she didn't like it.

  _schreeech_

Whipping her head around, the girl got to her knees, hand finding one of the daggers that she'd found in her family vault before the death of the dark lord. Slowly looking around as she got to her feet there was another ear splitting screech to her right, closer than the last one.

 She was scared, what in the world could be making a noise like that? The girl didn't know, and she wasn't sure if she actually wanted to find out.

 That's when she heard the whistling sound of something coming closer to her at great speed. She ducked and covered her head, eyes wide, upon realizing that it was an arrow. After it had passed her, she peeked in the direction it had gone, blinking rapidly in shock at the sight of a spider, the size of the ones she remembered from her second year at Hogwarts, laying dead a few feet away from her.

 Now that she was actually paying attention, she could hear more of them, and more whistling from projectiles. Getting back up onto her feet she stumbled away in the opposite direction, readying her knife, hoping that whoever was engaging the spiders wouldn't come after her next.

 It seemed to take hours before there was silence. Nalila couldn't be sure since the canopy of leaves from the trees blocked out the sun entirely. The red-head had to come to an abrupt stop as an arrow slammed into the tree she was just about to cross in front of.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I forgot: I don't own anything you recognize.  
> Thank you to everyone who even looked at this.

** Chapter Two **

****

****

****

_Last Time:_

_It seemed to take hours before there was silence. Nalila couldn't be sure since the canopy of leaves from the trees blocked out the sun entirely. The red-head had to come to an abrupt stop as an arrow slammed into the tree she was just about to cross in front of._

_Now:_

With wide eyes Lila looked off in the direction the arrow had come from. Two tall beings, one male, whom was blonde, and one female, whom was a red-head like her, were making their way through the trees toward her. Both had bows in hand, and knives in straps and holsters on their bodies.

 "Don't move." the male told her.

 She hadn't planned on it, but that didn't mean she though the statement wasn't an obvious one. The female seemed to look over her with slight concern, which Lila thought was a little odd since one, they didn't know each other, and two, they were part of two different races that weren't on friendly terms.

 "I hadn't planned on it blondie, since I have no idea where I am, and nowhere to go."

 "What are you doing here on Elf lands?" the blond male asked, eyes narrowed, but not saying anything to her other statements.

 "I woke up here. Where is here anyway?" the shorter girl told them bluntly.

The expression on the blonde elf's face told her that he didn't believe her, the female however had a look of consideration on her face.

 "Well if you won't tell us the truth, maybe you will speak truth to my King."

 Lila narrowed her eyes at him, but followed along behind him quietly. She could feel the eyes of the she-elf on her back for a few moments as they followed the path through the trees to what Nalila assumed was their home.

 After what seemed like hours of walking later the small group of beings came to a stop in front of the entrance of the Elvish city. The small girl had to bite her lip to stop herself from gasping in shock at the beauty of it. Two trees were leaning toward each other just so that it was like a living archway. Lichen and ivy crawling all over the place with little white flower buds dotting around, breaking up the browns and greens.

 The blonde led her passed the guard, turning left and right so many times that Lila was positive she would never find her way back out, if she was let out. She just had a bad feeling that the Elf King wouldn't be letting her leave anytime soon.

 Nalila watched as the grand throne room doors were pushed open and she was ushered inside the room by the she-elf behind her. The shorter girl felt unendingly grateful that neither elf had thought to bind her in any way. She wasn't sure if she would have been able to stave off the panic if they had.

 The blonde elf in front of her, and the she-elf behind her went to stand up on the dais by a throne with giant antlers sticking out of it on both sides. It was rather fascinating and intimidating to look at really. The elf sitting on the throne, who looked just as fascinating as the antlers behind him, left leg crossed over right elegantly, she assumed he was the King. He bore a striking resemblance to the male elf that brought her here, both had very blonde hair and pale, pale blue eyes. Lila figured they could quite possibly be related, maybe father and son.

 "Legolas." the King addressed the other male.

 "My king, we found her wandering about the forest, alone."

 Pale blue eyes bored into her own emerald coloured ones as if he were trying to see into her soul. The shorter girl just stared back at him, holding back a snort at this elf trying to intimidate her. After dealing with people like Dumbledore, Sev, and the dark lord, this Elf King didn't seem all that scary to her.

 After a moment more the king turned those eyes to the she-elf, who looked slightly to his left, standing tall and proud. Nalila's respect for her went up a notch at that.

 "Tauriel, did she say why she was wandering about our lands?"

 Lila bristled at that, couldn't he ask her that since she was standing right there. She so wanted to just say what she was thinking, damn the consequences, but figured it would be best if she just waited till he addressed her.

 "She said that she woke up here, my king." Tauriel's soft voice seemed to echo around the room.

 The King turned back to Lila then, a small thoughtful frown on his lips. "Would you like to tell me the truth now, little one."

 "I told them the truth. I woke up in the forest. I don't know how I got here. I don't even know where here is exactly." Lila stated firmly.

 Thranduil's eyes narrowed at her tone, not liking it one little bit, Nalila didn't care if he liked it or not, she was telling him the truth. Not that she thought it mattered. He tilted his head looking the slip of a girl over once more. 

 "I have seen children from the race of men who are taller than you, and you certainly look older then a child, even with your short stature. Twenty to less than thirty winters perhaps. Tell me little one, from which race do you hail?"

 "I am a dwarrow, your majesty." her tone was slightly mocking.

 Legolas was left gaping, while the she-elf looked back toward the other female. Lila rolled her eyes in amusement, she knew that she hadn't been that tall before coming here, she figured she must have gotten even shorter since passing through the Veil. The fact that she didn't have a beard like normal dwarrowdams probably confused them, which in itself was amusing even if she was grateful for that fact. 

 "I will only ask you once more, as my patience of you is growing thin, why are you here?" his tone was more clipped this time.

 "I told you already! I just woke up in the blasted forest! I don't know how or when I got here! I don't know what you want from me, since I don't know anything!" the angry words burst out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

 Two sets of eyes narrowed at her, both pale blue, while the she-elf looked wide-eyed in surprise by her outburst.

 "Very well," the King started, "If you will not spill your secrets, you can spend some time in the dungeons, maybe that will help loosen your tongue."

 Nalila dropped her head to her chest, not fighting when Tauriel put a hand on her shoulder to escort her out of the room. The shorter girl didn't know, or care if the younger blonde was following, he seemed to definitely be his father's son. Half a dozen twists and turns later found Nalila taking a slim staircase down to a cell slightly separated from the rest. She was gently nudged inside by Tauriel which surprised her a little since she thought she'd just get pushed in, then the elf locked the cell door.

 "Wait!" Lila called softly as the other red-head turned to leave. She could feel the tears starting to gather as the weight of everything that had happened in the last few days finally got to her. "Please, you have to believe me, I just woke up in the forest. I don't know how I got there. Please don't leave me here."

 Tauriel looked torn when she noticed the tears gathering in the other girl's eyes, before turning her head away to look at Legolas who had followed them. He frowned, but shook his head at his companion. Both knowing there was nothing that either of them could do for her. A cry left Lila's lips when she saw that, and she retreated further into the cell since it was obvious that the two elves couldn't or wouldn't help her.

 Tauriel glanced back to the darkened cell where crying could now be heard from within. "I think she was telling the truth my prince."

 "Yes, I believe so as well, but my father will not let her leave, you know this. His feelings toward her people is well known. But perhaps I can at least convince him to give her food and water."

 The other elf nodded. "Is she to be in my care then?" she asked him.

 Legolas nodded before turning away and returning to the throne room. His father was in the exact same spot as when the trio had left, sitting in his throne, a frown marring his handsome features.

 "Father," the younger greeted.

 "Legolas," Thranduil spoke softly, "Come to try and change my mind about letting her go? Has she convinced you that there is no nefarious purpose to her being on our land?"

 The younger blonde shook his head, keeping his thoughts to himself knowing that they wouldn't help. "No. I only wish to make sure that she doesn't die before your questions are answered."

 The elder elf considered the words for while. "Very well, I assume you have already put Tauriel in charge of her?."

 Legolas nodded then turned away, striding toward the doors.

 "Oh and Legolas, keep an eye on Tauriel. Sometimes her emotions get the best of her."

 

  **XXXXX**

Nalila didn't know how long she'd been there, it could have been days or even weeks. What she did know was that the she-elf, Tauriel, brought her food and water every once in a while. Sometimes the elf would sit on the steps by her cell, never speaking, just sitting and watching her. Until one day Lila finally grew tired of the silence.

 "Nalila."

 "What?" Lila almost laughed at the confused look on the elf's face.

 "My name is Nalila."

 "I'm Tauriel." Tauriel blinked in surprise.

 "As nice as it is to meet you, I think I'm going to be here for a long time." the shorter girl stated with a heavy sigh. "I get that there is an issue between our races, I understand this more than anyone could ever believe but I haven't even been here since I was a baby."

 Tauriel looked confused again, not understanding what had just been said. "I don't understand."

 Lila sighed, pressing her cheek against the cell door. "Of course you don't. I don't really understand it all myself, and I don't particularly want to try and work it through with my jailer, no matter how nice you've been too me. "

 They talked about little inconsequential things for a while. Both learning little tidbits of information about the other's life.

 "I'm sorry Nalila, I must go, I will be back later with your food."

 Lila watched her go sadly, missing her freedom.

 She wasn't sure how much time had passed, she'd fallen asleep against the cell door while waiting for the elf-maiden to return. Tauriel was now there, a little tray with food and a bowl of water with her.

 "Oh, I'm starving!"

 The taller girl startled at her voice, thinking that the other was still asleep, it made the shorter girl chuckle a little. Slowly, Tauriel slid the tray of food under the gap between the floor and the door.

 "I can't stay long I'm afraid," Tauriel stated a little regretfully.

 "That's alright," Lila replied, "Thanks for the food."

 The elf nodded before unfolding her legs so she was standing. "I'll try to come back to see you soon."

 Lila just smiled and waved the other away, a little sad that her maybe friend couldn't talk to her more, but she just ate the rest of her meal, drank her water, and retreated to the farthest spot in her cell away from the door.

 She was woken abruptly by angry screams and banging from some of the other cells. She was almost completely positive that there hadn't been anyone occupying the other cells when she'd been brought down here. Curiously she edged her way closer to the door, staying hidden as much as possible as she peeked out to see what all the ruckus was about.

 She blinked several times to make sure that her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. Yes there were several elves in the dungeons including Legolas and Tauriel. Yes there were some Dwarrows already in the cells, and a few more being pushed into others and locked in. One of the Dwarrows was kept separate from the rest, he was dark haired and his eyes were the most intense dark blue she had ever seen.

  _What in the world is going on, and who are they,_ was all she could think at that moment.

 The dark haired dwarf was led up and out of the dungeons by Legolas, while Tauriel stayed behind, flickering a glance to her cell before looking away again. The other Dwarrows still banging and yelling, not noticing the elf-maid's flickered gaze, but Nalila briefly caught her glance.

 Lila stayed where she was, just watching them since this was the first time she was seeing any of her race, and she wanted to take in everything she could about them. If her information was right, and she was sure it was, the Dwarrow that was lead away was Thorin, King under the mountain. She wasn't sure what was going on, or why these dwarrows were here. She did know however that whatever was going on was probably either important or dangerous, possibly both.

 The red haired girl didn't know how long she stood watching them before she heard the distinct heavy footsteps of the only dwarf not in a cell as well as the light patter that she had come to associate with the elves. She quickly backed away from the door as the elves that were escorting him passed him off to Tauriel who in turn led him to the cell she was currently occupying. The elf-maid had a small mysterious smile touching her lips as she led him over. He was slightly pushed into the cell, the way Tauriel nudged him seemed almost playful to Lila, then the tell-tale sign of the door being locked was heard. He had turned around to face out of the cell, she had caught the scowl on his face as he turned, and away from her which suited her just fine for now.    


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a little surprised with myself at how fast this update is. Just please don't expect it all the time, sometimes the muse co-operates better than other times.

** Chapter Three **

****

****

****

_Last time:_

_The red haired girl didn't know how long she stood watching them before she heard the distinct heavy footsteps of the only dwarf not in a cell as well as the light patter that she had come to associate with the elves. She quickly backed away from the door as the elves that were escorting him passed him off to Tauriel who in turn led him to the cell she was currently occupying. The elf-maid had a small mysterious smile touching her lips as she led him over. He was slightly pushed into the cell, the way Tauriel nudged him seemed almost playful to Lila, then the tell-tale sign of the door being locked was heard. He had turned around to face out of the cell, she had caught the scowl on his face as he turned, and away from her which suited her just fine for now._

_Now:_

He stood there for a few moments just listening to the chaos from his fellow dwarrows, absently wondering where their burglar had gotten off to. His musings were brought to a halt by a quiet sound coming from _inside_ the cell he was in. Was there someone else already there? He thought there might be as he slowly turned to look, the limited amount of light spilling into the cell wasn't much help.

Thorin couldn't be certain, but by the slight outline he could make out it looked like there was a person in the farthest corner. With narrowed eyes he took a couple steps toward them. When nothing happened he took a few more, there was the sound of fabric scraping along the wall.

"Who's there?" he demanded, eyes squinting trying to get a glimpse of who it was.

Light shuffling footsteps, and something wispy, it felt like hair, brushing his hand had Thorin turning back toward the cell door, as the person passed him. There was now a shadowy figure there, the light spilling in was blocking out specific features but the figure was short, like a hobbit or dwarrow, with long wild hair, and he noticed they were thin, almost extremely so.

Cautiously he moved closer, watching the figure tense the closer he got. Once he was close enough to see a face he was surprised to note that the figure was female. She was shorter than he had though, barely reaching his chin, and she had the greenest eyes he'd ever seen in his life.

After a moment the girl's head turned away to look out into the dungeons. Thorin absently noted then that the wild hair he'd spotted earlier was a bright crimson, it reminded him of something, or maybe someone, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Who are you?" he asked again, more gentle this time.

"Nalila." was the reply, just as soft.

His brow furrowed, that was a dwarrow name. She was small enough he supposed, she was young too, but what would a dwarrowdam be doing here of all places, and where had she come from. It looked like she'd been here for a while too, if the dark shadows under her eyes were any indication, which made Thorin feel even more anger at the Elf King.

"How long have you been here?" he asked her.

There was a small movement of her shoulders, and a frown touched her lips. "Not sure, since I can't see the sun. You'd have to ask the elves."

Thorin scowled at that, knowing that it's probably been weeks if not months since the girl had probably been free. "I am Thorin, son of Thrain."

Nalila's lips quirked into a smile, "I know who you are, King under the mountain." her voice was light and teasing.

A small smile touched his lips at her teasing tone.

A commotion from another part of the dungeon had the pair turning to look out. It was a little difficult to see what was going on, but the others were cheering. He could hear Kili's voice clearly. _Bilbo must have come then,_ Thorin thought.

Then he was there on the other side of the door, keys in hand, surprise written across his face when he found that Thorin wasn't alone in the cell. The girl took a step back at the Hobbit's abrupt appearance.

When the door was open Thorin held his hand out to the girl. Her small fingers curled around his before he lead her out into the open dungeon area where the rest of the Company was waiting. She blinked a few times to help her eyes adjust to the different lighting.

Kili was the first to notice her. "Uncle?" was all he said.

"She was already in the cell."

Kili, with wide eyes, only nodded at that. Fili was staring openly, while the other were trying to be discrete. Nalila who was used to this kind of attention, although for different reasons, just rolled her eyes at them.

"I don't mean to be rude here, but can we leave now, it's been a while since I've seen anything but that darn cell." she asked.

All of them, except Thorin, seemed to startle at the sound of her voice, but it had the affect she was hoping for. Bilbo turned away from them and motioned for them to follow him. A few twists and turns later found the Company in the cellar.

"Get in the barrels. It's the only way out, and I don't think it will take them long to follow us." the Hobbit told them.

Thorin ushered his nephew's in first, watching the rest climb in before moving to help Nalila into the last one. He was about to move further down to share Kili's since he was the smallest when a tiny hand caught his. He looked at her in askance, amused by the light pink colour that touched her cheeks.

"Since I am technically the smallest of us you should probably share with me." she said awkwardly, the pink in her cheeks darkening to a red.

He nodded once before climbing in, ending up half on top of her, which cause her to blush prettily once again. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed both Kili and Fili smirking in his direction. He turned his head slightly to glare at them.

Suddenly they were rolling. Nalila was gripping the barrel, Thorin's hands on either side of hers, holding tightly as they crashed into water, going under for a moment before the barrels righted themselves and they were moving with the current.

Before anyone even knew what was going on their exit was blocked, the elves knew they were escaping. Then there were arrows, lots of them, a lucky one catching one of the sentry elves killing him and causing his body to fall into the water amongst the barrels.

Fili and Kili watched amused as their uncle tried to grab a hold of the girl as she climbed out of the barrel they shared, before leaping onto the moss covered rocks a little ways away from them. Thorin was shouting at her to get back in the barrel, but it didn't seem as though she was at all listening to anything he was saying to her.

That was when the first orc finally made its way over the wall and attacked anything within sight. Another two elves fell before a horn was blown to alert reinforcements. Nalila nabbed a sword from one of the fallen elves as she made her way toward the lever that would open the waterway gate for them.

She absently noticed that Legolas and Tauriel had shown up, they're weren't trying to stop her so she didn't pay much attention to them. Her goal was the lever and she'd do anything to get there. Nalila was so focused on her self-appointed task, that the pain of an arrow lodging itself in her thigh didn't register to her for a long moment.

When the pain finally registered the girl grit her teeth, she'd definitely had worse than this, and carried on, an arrow in her leg was not going to stop her. After what seemed like hours, but could really have only been minutes, Lila made it up to the little platform which held the lever. Making her way over to it she practically collapsed onto it, pressing it down to open the gate.

With that done she braced herself before ripping the arrow out and rolling toward the edge, waiting a moment before pushing herself off the ledge.

It was only her normal dumb luck that she landed back in the barrel with Thorin.

Amazingly she had managed to keep hold of her borrowed sword, not that the elf she'd taken it from would need it anymore. She passed it over to her barrel-mate then gripped the side of it to help her stay upright since she knew her leg couldn't hold her weight.

Thorin nodded gratefully for the weapon as he wrapped one arm around her middle to hold her steady while the one with the sword swung at any orc that came within arm reach of him.

The current was pulling them along, further away from the elves, and the orcs.

Thorin had to adjust his grip on the girl when she slumped against him more fully, he could tell she was still conscious, but was close to losing that particular battle. He could only hope that the current would take them far enough away from the Woodland Realm so that Oin could take a look at her leg.

 

**XXX**

 

Hours later found the Company pulling themselves up and out of the barrels and onto some dry rocks when the current had slowed almost to a stop. Fili and Kili raced over as soon as they were out of theirs to help their uncle get the girl up onto the dry land. The three winced in sympathy at her soft moan of pain as they carried her a little further inland.

Thorin motioned for Oin then, turning away knowing his nephew's would take care of the girl while he made sure that everyone else was alright. He stopped when he came across Bilbo, gaze running all over to see if the Hobbit was hurt. The dwarf was relieved to find the other seemed unharmed.

Bilbo looked passed him to where the girl lay with Fili, Kili and Oin hovering over her. "Is she alright?"

Before Thorin could answer there was a thump and crash which had everyone looking over in the same direction. Nalila still had her arm raised in a fist, Oin was a little ways away from her on his back.

"For all that is holy will someone just please bind my leg so that we can get out of here."

Thorin's lips twitched in amusement at her forcefulness. Fili looked at her in amazement while Kili was a mix of amused and worried. After a few moments it was Ori, to Thorin's complete shock, that bound her leg up and helped her to her feet.

"Thank you. What's your name?" she asked him, holding his arm till she was steady.

"Ori, miss..." he trailed off.

"Nalila." she answered the unasked question in his voice.

The Company had the same reaction as he had to her name, Which thoroughly amused him. There was a sharp gasp to Thorin's right. When he turned to look Dori and Nori were pale like they'd seen a ghost. Nalila had looked over in their direction as well, pinning them with her other-worldly green eyes. Eyes two of the three brothers recognised, but thought they'd never see again.

"What..? How are..? You were taken!" Dori stuttered, Nori said nothing.

The girl blinked, a little confused since it didn't make much sense, her eyes widened when she remembered what her mother had said in the letter. She had been taken from her family. Ori looked confused, but he was as young as her so that didn't surprise her.

"Can this wait till we're not out in the open? I promise I'll explain the best I can, but it's not safe here." she said earnestly, hoping that they would understand.

"Nalila is right, it can wait till we find a safer location to talk." Thorin stated firmly.

"Nalila!?"


	4. Chapter 4

** Chapter Four **

****

_Last Time:_

_"What..? How are..? You were taken!" Dori stuttered, Nori said nothing._

_The girl blinked, a little confused since it didn't make much sense, her eyes widened when she remembered what her mother had said in the letter. She had been taken from her family. Ori looked confused, but he was as young as her so that didn't surprise her._

_"Can this wait till we're not out in the open? I promise I'll explain the best I can, but it's not safe here." she said earnestly, hoping that they would understand._

_"Nalila is right, it can wait till we find a safer location to talk." Thorin stated firmly._

_"Nalila!?"_

_Now:_

The girl looked in the direction that the familiar sounding voice was coming from, and let out a startled cry when she saw who was standing there.

"Sirius!"

The red head surged forward, letting go of Ori, stumbling a little because of her wounded leg. She didn't let that stop her from reaching him though. Absently she noted the other man standing beside her godfather, but paid him no mind as she flung herself at the shorter of the two.

"Oh Lila! I thought I'd never see you again!" he whispered into her hair.

The girl only cried into the fabric covering his shoulder, she hadn't dared to hope that she'd see him again when she had made her way through the veil, but he was here and she had found him, that was all that mattered to her. Sirius lifted her into his arms easily, her being smaller than he remembered, resting her against his hip.

"Are these your friends?" the other man spoke up for the first time.

Nalila looked over to him, he was taller than Sirius, dark haired, and a serious expression on his face. When he noticed her looking at him a light flush rose on his face, which was a little interesting to her.

"They helped me." was all she said.

Sirius nodded, "Well you all have my sincerest gratitude." the two men glanced at each other, seeming to communicate with a look alone. "Is there something we can do to help you?"

Thorin thought for a moment before answering. "Nalila needs healing, she was hit by an orc arrow. We need to get through Lake Town to get to our destination."

"Bard?" Sirius asked.

"Getting them into town won't be difficult. Come, help me with the barrels and I'll explain on the way."

Thorin nodded and was the first to grab one of the barrels, his nephew's following right after, although Kili shot the girl in the human's arms a worried look. As the dwarrows helped to move the barrels to Bard's barge he explained that the easiest and safest way into town was to just pay the toll bearer to get their papers, telling Thorin to just make something up, like they were escorting Sirius' goddaughter to Lake Town before continuing on to their family in the Iron Hills.

Thorin considered the man's words for a moment, as they all boarded the barge, before nodding in agreement, he didn't really want to contemplate the alternatives. Kili had made his way over to the other man and the red-haired girl with Fili and Ori.

"How is she?" Kili asked.

"Sleeping. It's getting worse, but once we get her back to Bard's I'll be able to help her." Sirius told the three youngest.

"Are you a healer?" Oin asked as he moved to stand with them.

"No, but I know enough and have learned enough while I've been here to get the poison out of her system."

Oin nodded, glad that she'd get the help that he wasn't sure he'd be able to give her to heal her. Everyone was quiet for a little bit as the barge moved through the water steadily. Before they knew it they were at the toll house, explaining things to the bearer and even putting in that the girl was injured to make things go a little faster for them.

Luckily everything went smoothly and soon enough they were making their way off the barge and through Lake Town to Bard's home. Sirius carried Nalila the whole time, not wanting to let her go even when they got to the house and he had to put her down.

"Please someone get me some warm water and clean bandages." Sirius asked.

Bard's oldest daughter, Sigrid, hurried to get the requested items taking her younger sister Tilda with her.

"What of medicines?" Oin asked curiously.

Sirius shook his head, "Don't need them, but I do have to ask for quiet and that no one interrupt me once I start the process."

Thorin frowned at that, it sounded rather mystical to him, but he said nothing. Kili on the other hand who had always been the curious sort couldn't help himself from asking questions.

"If you're not using herbs what are you going to do to help her?"

The man looked at each of them in turn before swinging his gaze back to Thorin, "What has she told you? About herself or how she got here?"

"We met in the Elf-King's dungeons just before our escape. Then we were fighting for our lives against orcs. She said she'd tell us what she knew when we got to a safe place, that's when you found us." Thorin stated.

The man nodded, "Yeah that sounds like her. I don't need herbs to heal her because I'll be using magic to help her own push the poison back out of the wound."

There was a bit of an uproar when magic was mentioned, except for the younger members of the company and Bilbo who were more interested than anything else. Right then was when the two girls returned, the older toting two buckets of warm water, while the younger had both her arms full of cloths.

"Thank you girls." Sirius smiled at them as they put the items down near the side of the bed that the injured girl was laying on.

Both girls smiled back before retreating to where their father stood by the door with their brother, Bain. The four other humans were used to Sirius' odd ways by now since he'd been with them for a while.

Once everything was quiet the raven haired man hunched a little further over his goddaughter, slowly pushing just a little bit of his magic into her body, directing it to nudge her own magic into action to force the poison back out through the wound. While Sirius knew that it would be painful it was the only way he knew to make sure that she survived.

Thorin watched closely, he didn't trust magic and he wanted to make sure that the man wasn't going to intentionally hurt the girl. A minute went by and everyone tensed when a pained whimper escaped the small girl's mouth. Then there was a scream, all the dwarrows in the room making an aborted move to intervene. Bard held his children close to him even as he kept an eyes on the others, making sure they didn't interfere.

Fili had to grab a hold of Kili to make sure he didn't move, even though he himself was sorely tempted to do the same. Dori and Nori squashed Ori between them, worry lining all three faces. The rest of the Company seemed to hold their breath till the screaming stopped.

"Sigrid," Sirius' voice was gruff from trying to hold in his own tears at Nalila's pain. "Can you clean the wound and bind it, I can't use anymore magic on her right now."

The girl nodded, briskly moving away from her father to do as she was asked. While she was busy with then the man turned to face Thorin, it was time to tell them what he knew before Lila woke and could tell the rest.

"Bard and his children know most of what I can tell you," the wizard started. "For you to understand fully I need to tell you about things from before Lila was born. What you have to understand first is that I'm not originally from this place. Where I come from magic and wizards are a lot more common than here. There were a lot of old families, the purebloods. I come from one such family so I grew up surrounded by magic."

At that point Bard steered the shorter man to a chair, knowing the other was tired and needed rest.

"Thanks. Anyway, in my last two years of schooling a Dark Lord had started gathering followers. He delved into the blackest of magics, wanting to eradicate the muggles, non-magical people, and muggleborns, those with magic born from non-magical families. It was a dark time, people were going missing and other were popping up dead. No one knew who to trust.

'I don't know how Lila came to be with my best friend, James, and his wife Lily, since I knew that Lily hadn't been pregnant before they suddenly had a daughter. I'm sure Lila knows, Lily was always the most cunning of us she would have made back-up plans for if something had happened to her and James.

'Back to the point, not long after Lila showed up a prophecy was spoken, I don't know the full contents, but I do know that two children could have fit, Lila, and a boy named Neville. Lily and James went into hiding, trying to protect a girl I was pretty sure wasn't theirs, not that it mattered. I have loved Lila like she was my own daughter since the moment my eyes fell on her.

'My friends stayed hiding with the help of the Fidelius charm. The charm hides a place from everything and everyone, except the secret keeper. The secret keeper is the only one who can give out the information to others. At first James had wanted me to be their secret keeper, but I convinced him that another friend of ours, Peter, would be the better option."

Sirius stopped to gather his composure, this next part was going to be the hardest. The Dwarrows stayed silent, seeing the sorrow on the man's face, he had lost people just like they had.

When he was sure he could speak again the seated man cleared his throat, "The friend I had convinced my other friends to trust betrayed them. He sold them out to the Dark Lord, who in turn went to their home and killed them."

Bard's hand ran through the other man's hair comfortingly while Sirius turned a little to bury his face in the taller man's stomach. No one noticed Lila watching him sadly, knowing how much reliving his friends deaths hurt him.

"The Dark Lord killed my father first, while he attempted to give my mother time to get me out of the house." Lila stated softly, everyone, Sirius included turned to face her.

She held up her hand to stop the seated man from talking. "My mother took her stand against her killer in my nursery. He gave her a chance to save herself, but she wouldn't let him have me, so he killed her right in front of me."

The red-head shuddered in remembrance of what the dementors allowed her to see and hear. Next thing she knew someone was wrapping her up in their arms, from the dark hair she thought it was Sirius, but she couldn't be completely sure. After a moment she pulled back a little, looking up slightly, surprised to find it was Thorin who held her so gently. From the heat on her face she could tell her cheeks were pink.

When she looked in her godfather's direction he seemed amused by the colour in her cheeks, and she knew that later she was in for some teasing from him. Her eyes narrowed slightly when her gaze moved to the dwarrows, noting the smirks on Fili's and Kili's faces.

"Anyway," she continued, "The Dark Lord tried to kill me too, but as you can see I'm alive so he failed. No one really has more than a guess about how, since no one except for me has ever survived the Killing Curse."

"I made it to the house after it was all said and done." Sirius took over. "I had gone to check in on the keeper and found him missing, so went to go check in with James. The house was destroyed, and Hagrid was standing in the front garden with you in his arms. I was devastated that Lily and James were gone, but Lila was alive which was a relief.

'Unfortunately my grief and anger clouded my judgement. I left Lila with Hagrid not knowing where he was taking her, only that my old headmaster had somewhere for her to go. I went after Peter. Long story short he made it look like I had betrayed my friends, blew up a street full of muggles and faked his death, leaving me to go to prison for twelve years."

"I was sent to live with my mother's sister and her husband. Suffice to say they didn't like me because I had magic. I don't want to talk about my time there so please don't ask." Lila pleaded.

"I found out about the Wizarding world when I was eleven." she continued when no one had spoken or asked any questions. "My years at Hogwarts were eventful to say the least. I was reunited with Sirius when I was thirteen. Because no one, but him knew the truth, I thought he was coming after me to kill me."

With Thorin's help the girl climbed off the bed and hobbled over to said man, plopping herself in his lap. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close and pressing a light kiss to her temple.

"To understand the next bit I need to explain something to you first. The fourth member of our group in school had a condition that forced him to change into a wolf on the nights of the full moon. To help him James, Peter and I figured out how to become an animagus, someone who can change into one particular animal." Sirius explained.

"James, my father, could change into a stag, Siri can change into a giant dog, and Peter was a rat, fitting really." she told them.

Sirius nodded before continuing. "So Peter had turned into a rat when he faked his death and lived comfortably with a wizarding family for twelve years. It was chance that I happen to see him on the front page of newspaper. That was when I escaped."

"Let's skip a bit here since it's not important. My best friends, Ron and Hermione," her voice cracked a little on their names causing the arms around her to tighten a little in comfort. "And I wound up finding out the truth of what happened when my parents died. Peter ended up escaping and Sirius and I almost died."

"You seem too calm about that for it to be the one and only time." one of the older dwarrows commented.

"Um yeah, there were a handful of times during my schooling." she told them a little embarrassed. "Going back to our explanation, the next year was even worse. There was a tournament, which at the time I was too young to enter into even if I had wanted to, which I didn't. Someone entered me with the name of a fake school, so I ended up having to compete anyway.

'It wasn't till the end of the third task that anyone had even started to suspect that something wasn't quite right. Another classmate and I were whisked away from the school via portkey. A portkey in an item that is used to instantly transport anyone touching it to another place.

'So the portkey brought us to a graveyard. I had been having dreams of the place on and off all year, so it was a shock to actually be there. Before I knew what was happening Peter was there and he used the Killing Curse on my classmate."

She had to stop for a moment to let the tears fall, it had been a while since she'd thought of this and it hurt just as much as it had when it happened.                 


End file.
